For the record, if, as an Arizona voter, you are on the
Permanent Early Voter List (PEVL), you mail
your early ballot before the Friday before Election Day, and it is received at
the County Recorder’s office by around noon on the Monday before Election Day,
it is counted immediately. Not saved
until Election Day. Not saved until the
day after Election Day.
I say “around noon” because as you know, elections ain’t
cheap. The County Elections Office doesn’t staff for the growing number of
these early ballots.
As a result, not ALL early ballots received before
election day are counted early.
The office ends up with a backlog, often
very large (100,000+) that come in over the last 5 days or so, and most of
these are also LATE early ballots and do not get counted before Elections
Office staff stop counting early ballots around noon on Monday. But they are COUNTED.
How do I know? Because 2 days
after I mailed my ballot I went online: https://recorder.maricopa.gov/earlyvoteballotnet/evbstatus.aspx
After identifying myself I learned that my ballot was
RECEIVED and COUNTED.
Let me repeat that for emphasis: Early ballots are counted early
as long as they are postmarked the Friday BEFORE Election Day and received midday
the Monday BEFORE Election Day. But they are all COUNTED.
So which are the early ballots that news media report a week
after Election Day are still being counted?
It’s simple: “Early Ballots” that are received at the
Elections Office after midday on the day before Election Day, OR were brought
by hand to a polling place ON Election Day, are LATE Early Ballots. And they are counted AFTER the ballots that
were voted on Election Day. But they are COUNTED.
Here it is again in BOLD
FACE: LATE Early Ballot are counted AFTER the ballots that were voted ON or
BEFORE Election Day. But they are
COUNTED.
Get it?
Good!!
